L-3 ELAC Nautik is a company at Kiel, with more than 80 years of experience in development and production of hydroacoustic systems. The product folio includes sonar systems, echo sounders as well as systems for underwater communication and data link units for military and civil application. All products are manufactured and sold at the Kiel facility.

Besides furnishing of new built vessels and submarines, L-3 ELAC Nautik specializes in sonar modernization by customer-specific modification development.

L-3 ELAC Nautik further offers installation and service of the products and customer support by training and logistic. Our products and systems are known for their reliability and advanced technique. The company is certified according to DIN EN ISO 9001.

NAVAL ACOUSTICS / SONAR SYSTEMS

NAVIGATION AND DETECTION SONAR VANGUARD

Marine vessels are exposed to numerous threats from under water, for instance mines, divers with transfer vessels and submarines. The frequency of a ASW sonar is too low for detection of small objects, whereas the range of a mine hunting sonar is too small.

L-3 ELAC Nautik closes this security gap with the compact sonar VANGUARD, combining a forward looking high-resolution 3-D navigation sensor with a system for 360° surveillance, protecting the vessel during its journey as well as while anchoring.

In spite of the enormous capacity, the sonar system can be integrated into virtually any platform. Even retrofits can be easily realized during modernization. Integration will be done according to customer’s wishes, ranging from a stand-alone system to full integration in the bridge console.

VANGUARD is operated by an intuitive graphic interface. Even untrained personnel will be able to operate the system effectively and securely after a very short time.

MINE AVOIDANCE SONAR SCOUT

SCOUT is based on the same concept as the VANGUARD sonar family. Main purpose of the sonar is mine avoidance and navigation support in dangerous waters. The high efficiency of the system is completed by additional features such as charting of the sea floor and supervision of the surface (for instance shortly before surfacing).

SCOUT can also be refitted on existing submarines. L-3 ELAC Nautik offers a wide range of arrays, allowing for installation in all kinds of submarines.

The compact electronic system components require very little space and environmental conditions, making installation very easy.

PASSIVE SONAR SYSTEM LOPAS

L-3 ELAC Nautik’s passive sonar system LOPAS is the most compact unit available worldwide, at the same time the most versatile. The basic version of LOPAS can replace an old sonar, which cannot be maintained any further without considerable costs. In addition LOPAS is the basis for a full sonar suite, including intercept-, active and passive ranging-, mine avoidance- and flank array sonar.

For retrofit with LOPAS, L-3 ELAC Nautik uses as much existing components as possible in order to reduce the modification costs. If components such as hydrophones, transducers, baffles or cables must be replaced, L-3 ELAC Nautik offers own spare parts. Other parts such as pressure hull penetrators can be overhauled.

For new submarines or extensive overhauls, L-3 ELAC Nautik offers solutions tailored to customer’s needs for different configurations. Due to an open architecture, even systems from other manufacturers can later be integrated, if the need arises.

PINGER LOCATION SONAR PILOS

A submarine in distress must be located as fast as possible, to allow a rescue team to save the crew quickly. The pinger location system LOPAS either detects emergency signals, - for instance sent by the sonar beacon system, - or performs a long range active search for a submarine in distress.

PILOS is installed on the mother ship. Its compactness and modularity allow installation on virtually any type of vessel, new or overhauled. Apart from the actual rescue mission, PILOS also detects objects, which may for instance have become lost during maneuvers.

If a submarine is in distress and the crew cannot save themselves on their own, it is mandatory to locate the submarine as fast as possible. For this purpose L-3 ELAC Nautik’s sonar beacon system sends an acoustic emergency signal for quick and exact location of the submarine. The system is available as single or dual frequency unit, for either long range or both short and long range. The signal can be released manually or automatically by contact with water. The system fully complies with STANAG 1298.

DIVER SONAR DSE 1

The portable active / passive diver sonar DSE 1 enables divers to detect mines and other obstacles in coastal waters, rivers or lakes. In contrary to other systems in the market, the DSE 1 fulfills the requirements of STANAG 2897 class 2.

The DSE 1 is a multibeam system, the display provides data about bearing, distance and target size. Passive mode allows detection of sound sources to support recovery of pingers or to assist during rescue operations.

NAVAL ACOUSTICS / ECHO SOUNDERS

NAVAL ECHO SOUNDER VE 5900

The naval echo sounder VE 5900 is a compact modular system with one to four frequencies for surface vessels or submarines. Control and display elements are combined in a single unit, built to military standards.

The system can be installed in a 19” rack or can be delivered as stand-alone unit in a shock-proof housing. Depth data are displayed as echogram and as numerical value on a high-resolution monitor and are stored for a period of at least seven days.

VE 5900 can be operated with a number of transducers and can be enhanced by additional sensors for ambient data, such as sound velocity sensors.

NAVAL ACOUSTICS / UNDERWATER COMMUNICATION

UNDERWATER COMMUNICATION SYSTEM UT 3000

The UT 3000 is the very first underwater communication system combining analogue and digital communication in one unit. In addition to the telephony and telegraphy mode, the UT 3000 offers unique features such as own noise measurement, horizontal distance measurement and transmission of SOS signals.

The new digital mode for the first time allows fast and reliable transmission of digital data in water. The possibilities for digital data transfer are nearly unlimited. In the future, own position data, SMS, maneuver reports or target data can be exchanged between submarines in a more secure way.

Standardized or modified interfaces support the integration into the communication network of the vessel. The system is available for surface vessels and submarines.The upgrade of an existing UT 2000 to UT 3000 is performed by simply exchanging the operator/display unit, since the existing transducers will also work with the UT 3000.

UNDERWATER COMMUNICATION SYSTEM UT 2200

The UT 2000 is a compact underwater telephone according to military standard. It is in particular installed as emergency phone in case that the submarine’s electrical system fails.

The built-in power supply guarantees communication for several days. The system can also be used on surface vessels as compact and simple communication unit.

NAVAL ACOUSTICS / TRANSDUCERS

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE TRANSDUCERS

In addition to complete systems, L-3 ELAC Nautik offers approx. 50 different sonar components, including nearly the complete range of outboard sensor technology for submarines such as hydrophones or transducers for active-, passive-, intercept- and flank array sonars as well as transducers for active sonars onboard of frigates.

More than 2000 transducers and hydrophones are produced per year, all of them are tested electrically and acoustically before delivery. All transducers fulfill military or civil standards, such as for instance IMO or Coast Guard requirements, MIL-Specs and DEF-STAN.

REDESIGN AND REPLICA

L-3 ELAC Nautik possesses a singular know-how and experience in the production of transducers. In addition to the own transducer range, transducer of all kinds can be reproduced. Hydroacoustic systems, for which spare parts are no longer available, can thus be kept operational. State-of-the art material and components guarantee highest performance and reliability, supply shortfalls can thus be avoided.

ACCESSORIES

L-3 ELAC Nautik also produces all kinds of accessories for installation and operation of active and passive transducers such as pre-amplifiers, cable, baffles or pressure hull penetrators. Many of these components can be delivered ex stock, otherwise they will be manufactured or modified according to customer’s requirements.

NAVIGATION SYSTEMS / ECHO SOUNDER

NAVIGATION ECHO SOUNDER LAZ 5100

The LAZ 5100 is the latest navigation echo sounder of L-3 Elac Nautik, available as single- or dual-frequency unit. Transducers with frequencies from 24 kHz to 200 kHz can be connected, the maximum measuring range is 2000m.

The LAZ 5100 allows a reliable detection of the sea bottom in shallow as well as in deep water. It fulfills the requirements of IMO for navigation equipment and is type-approved by BSH, USCG and CCS.

SURVEY SYSTEMS

L-3 ELAC Nautik offers a wide range of single beam and multi beam echo sounders for commercial and scientific survey applications. The multibeam series of L-3 ELAC Nautik cover the complete survey range from shallow to deep water, the company offers the appropriate multibeam system for each application.

Contact Details

L-3 ELAC Nautik is specialized in customer-specific sonar development and offers a wide application range from mine avoidance and navigation support to location of submarines in distress, navigation and detection and more.

The passive sonar system LOPAS is the most compact and versatile unit available worldwide.

The naval echo sounder VE 5900 is a compact modular system with one to four frequencies for surface vessels or submarines.

UT 3000 is the very first underwater communication system combining analogue and digital communication in one unit.

L-3 ELAC Nautik offers approx. 50 different sonar components, including nearly the complete range of outboard sensor technology for submarines such as hydrophones or transducers for active-, passive-, intercept- and flank array sonars as well as transducers for active sonars onboard of frigates.